It was a long road to recovery for Youngstown State University's Ward Beecher Planetarium, but after a 17-month closure, the planetarium is set to reopen with all new features and updates for students and the public to enjoy.

"The dome is brand new, and its reflectivity is balanced for showing video which is a huge upgrade over our old dome," says Curt Spivey, Ward Beecher Planetarium Engineer. 

The planetarium, which is the largest on any campus in Ohio with over 100 seats, saw an upgrade to its projection system called Chronos. The updated technology will now be able to show planets and stars in real-time, an educational boost for the university.

"We do advanced classes in here, we do labs in here, we do the public shows in here to get people excited about astronomy and science and STEM. Physics and Astronomy students get more hands-on experience, not only because we have this room to work on the informal education end of things, but our two astronomers work with them on real research projects," says Spivey.

The planetarium will show its first shows since 2023 this weekend. A full list of their upcoming shows and events can be found on their WEBSITE.